Psychology 270T: Multicultural School Psychology: Cultural Psychology
SECTION V
Professor: Dr. Hong Ni
Office:
S2 318
Office Phone: 278-1726,
hongni@csufresno.edu
Office Hours. Monday:1-4, Wednesday: 2-4
Course Description: School psychology is a unique, challenging, and rapidly expanding profession
dedicated to enhancing the educational and emotional need of all students. The purpose of this
course is to provide a format for exploring the social, cultural, and linguistic context of schools.
Required Text:
Frisby, C. L., & Reynolds, C. R. (2005). Comprehensive handbook of multicultural school
psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Course Prerequisites: The course is open only to graduate students.
Course Description: Students will continue their study of cultural diversity and how to develop
culturally sensitive learning environments. This segment will focus on cultural psychology. The
course will begin with a definition and exploration of culture. We will explore several structural
categories of culture and discuss how they are manifested in our society and in education settings.
The main goal of this course is to raise students‘ awareness of those aspects of culture and make
effort to apply their knowledge to their practice in schools.
Course Objectives:


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Students will demonstrate understanding of, respect for, and responsiveness to
cultural and individual differences by describing the perspectives of those of
other ages, abilities, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicities.
Students will be able to describe the structural categories of culture and
understand how they affect people‘s daily life and impact child development
and education.
Students will display their knowledge in presentations and discussion of how
the structural categories of culture affect their case construction.
Cheating and Plagiarism: ―
Cheating is the practice of fraudulent or deceptive acts for the purpose
of improving a grade or obtaining course credit. Typically, such acts occur in relation to
examinations. It is the intent of this definition that the term ―
cheating‖ not be limited to examination
situations only, but that it include any and all actions by a student which are intended to gain an
unearned academic advantage by fraudulent or deceptive means‖ (CSU, Fresno, Faculty Handbook,
1990-91, p. 97).
―
Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating that consists of the misuse of the published and/or
unpublished works of another by representing the material so used as one‘s own work‖ (CSU,
Fresno, Faculty Handbook 1990-9 1, p. 97).
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The Professor expects students to maintain honesty and integrity in their academic
performance and professional conduct. Suspicions of cheating and plagiarism will be dealt with
according to the Academic Policy Manual of the CSU, Fresno. If the student has questions regarding
the actions that would or would not be acceptable behavior as relating to cheating and plagiarism, it
is the responsibility of the student to clarify such activities with the Professor. Furthermore, if a
student observes another student(s) cheating or plagiarizing, the student should confront the
student(s) directly and notify the Professor. The student(s) suspected in such cases will be afforded
due process. Additional guidelines related to this issue are attached.
In addition, accusations of racism, prejudice, or bias are considered intolerable by the
Professor. Any suggestions or evidence of such will result in dismissal of the student from the course
and the program. Due process will be afforded to the student in question.
Course Ethics: CASP, NASP, and APA Ethical Guidelines will apply to all aspects of this course.
Thus, names or identities of children, parents, teachers, etc., who are observed are to be kept strictly
confidential. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in a grade of F and dismissal from the course
and the program.
Students with Disabilities: Upon identifying themselves to the instructor and the university,
students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodation for learning and evaluation. For
more information, contact Services to Students with Disabilities in University Center Room 5 (2782811).
Honor Code: ―
Members of the CSU Fresno academic community adhere to principles of academic
integrity and mutual respect while engaged in university work and related activities.‖ You should:

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understand or seek clarification about expectations for academic integrity in this course
(including no cheating, plagiarism and inappropriate collaboration)
neither give nor receive unauthorized aid on examinations or other course work that is used
by the instructor as the basis of grading.
take responsibility to monitor academic dishonesty in any form and to report it to the
instructor or other appropriate official for action.
Computers: "At California State University, Fresno, computers and communications links to remote
resources are recognized as being integral to the education and research experience. Every student is
required to have his/her own computer or have other personal access to a workstation (including a
modem and a printer) with all the recommended software. The minimum and recommended
standards for the workstations and software, which may vary by academic major, are updated
periodically
and
are
available
from
Information
Technology
Services
(http://www.csufresno.edu/ITS/) or the University Bookstore. In the curriculum and class
assignments, students are presumed to have 24-hour access to a computer workstation and the
necessary communication links to the University's information resources." Computers will not be
used in class except as approved by the professor.
Disruptive Classroom Behavior: "The classroom is a special environment in which students and
faculty come together to promote learning and growth. It is essential to this learning environment
that respect for the rights of others seeking to learn, respect for the professionalism of the instructor,
and the general goals of academic freedom are maintained. ... Differences of viewpoint or concerns
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should be expressed in terms which are supportive of the learning process, creating an environment
in which students and faculty may learn to reason with clarity and compassion, to share of
themselves without losing their identities, and to develop and understanding of the community in
which they live . . . Student conduct which disrupts the learning process shall not be tolerated and
may lead to disciplinary action and/or removal from class." Cell phones should be turned off in
class except in case of family emergency.
Copyright policy: Copyright laws and fair use policies protect the rights of those who have
produced the material. The copy in this course has been provided for private study, scholarship, or
research. Other uses may require permission from the copyright holder. The user of this work is
responsible for adhering to copyright law of the U.S. (Title 17, U.S. Code). To help you familiarize
yourself with copyright and fair use policies, the University encourages you to visit its copyright
web page:
http://www.csufresno.edu/library/libraryinformation/campus/copyright/copyrtpolicyfull.pdf
For copyright Questions & Answers:
http://www.csufresno.edu/library/libraryinformation/campus/copyright/faqcopyright.pdf
Grading:
The course is credit/no credit. An important component of class this semester will be participation.
You are expected to read any assigned materials prior to class and bring any other relevant readings
to share. Each student must contribute to their group‘s case study and be present at the presentation.
Handouts for the presentation will be expected
Attendance: Attendance is expected at all classes. However, due to potential scheduling conflicts,
each student may be excused from one class session. The student missing the class will be
responsible for obtaining notes and handouts for the class missed from their peers, and will need to
turn in a one to two page summary of the topic presented to the instructor prior to our next scheduled
class meeting. For each additional class a student misses, the student will be required to write an 8
to 10 page paper (APA style with a minimum of 10 references) on a topic of the professor‘s
choosing.
Assignment: Students will be divided into five small groups. Each group has students from 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd year. They will come up with a case that involves a minority student or a student from a
different culture/subculture. The group will discuss and construct the case on Sept. 18. The third year
students will need to take the main responsibility since 1st and 2nd year students may not have such a
case. Through out the semester, the group will meet to reconstruct the case based on the knowledge
they learn from the class and their reading. Each group will present the case in the last class on
Dec.4. The presentation need to show how they incorporate their newly learned knowledge into their
case reconstruction.
Case construction usually includes the following sections (but not limited to):
A. Referral concerns
B. Student background
C. Assessment results
D. Hypotheses
E. Intervention procedure
F. Student progress and intervention evaluation
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When students reconstruct the case, they will need to display critical thinking skills by 1) analyzing
each step of the previously constructed case and 2) providing critiques and suggestions and
justifications. Students could explore the assumptions and hypotheses that were held in the original
case construction and examine whether they are justifiable. However, it is possible that the case
reconstructed is the same as the original. In this case, justification is required.
Subject to change: This syllabus and schedule are subject to change in the event of extenuating
circumstances.
Course Schedule
SESSION 1
(1:00-2:50
pm)
Topic: exploring cultural psychology and multicultural school psychology
Reading: Frisby & Reynolds: Preface, Ch.1, 3
Sign up for groups. You MUST contribute to and be present for the group
presentation.
SESSION 2
(1:00-2:50
pm)
Guest speaker: Dr. Vincent Biondo
Topic: Religion (how children develop their religion, how religion affects people‘s
daily life, and how it affects education, etc.)
Reading: Frisby & Reynolds Ch.14, 21
SESSION 3
(1:00-2:50
pm)
Topic: race, ethnicity and learning
Reading: Frisby & Reynolds Ch. 15,16, 20
SESSION 4
(1:00-2:50
pm)
Student case presentations
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